


Love's Sweet Kiss

by Dionte



Series: Chosen Week 2019 [7]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 10:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17424458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: The tale of a princess who would sacrifice all she had for love.For Chosen Week 2019, Day 7: Festival of the Chosens





	Love's Sweet Kiss

Once upon a time- as all good fairy tales begin- there was a princess.

 

She had hair like woven gold, and eyes that shined like sapphires. Her warm personality was known far and wide- a princess who walked among her people and cared for them as much as she could. She loved animals, and was especially fond of dogs. And, even more than that, she was an angel.

 

Such a statement is worth some skepticism, true. But the citizens of her country knew their princess loved them and cared for them, and they’d decided for one like her, angel was an apt descriptor.

 

The princess was named Colette.

 

It happened, when she was of marrying age, that she was engaged to the prince of another country. The marriage was not for love, but for stability. For Colette was the princess of a small, weak country, but she was well desired as a fiance. Many kingdoms knew she was kind, and believed that because she was kind, she would be easy to control.

 

There was a great problem with this engagement, though.

 

The princess was in love with another.

 

Yes. Colette was in love with a peasant named Lloyd. He was strong and kind, much like she, and Colette had admired the boy since she was young. Lloyd did not know of the Princess’s affection for him, but when he discovered that the Princess did not desire to marry, he insisted they break off the engagement.

 

He did not know Colette would be punished for breaking the engagement.

 

She broke it.

 

Her betrothed declared that he would attack her country for revenge, and Colette begged for him to refrain, calling the decision her own and that only she should be held responsible.

 

He agreed, and stole her hunger.

 

But soon, another prince desired her.

 

When she broke the engagement with him, he stole her nights.

 

The next stole her feelings.

 

And the next stole her voice.

 

The final one asked, “What do you have to give?”

 

She couldn’t answer. She had no voice, no feelings, no night, and no hunger. He sent her away, but her engagement stayed.

 

That day, she went to forest, to get away from the world. She could no longer face the friend she so admired, or the country she sought to protect. She was nothing, and she only wished she could cry.

 

The forest was calm and peaceful, and while she was there, a shadow appeared. And though she was unable to speak, it stayed with her, silent.

 

And it was strange, but if she could feel content, it was in the forest with that shadow.

 

Finally, it asked, “what do you desire?”

 

She wished to be normal, and it smiled.

 

“Give me a kiss?”

 

She did not, and it left.

 

The next day, she could speak again, and she ran to Lloyd, and confessed her love for him. He listened, but frowned, and said he could not return her affection. Sorry as he was for all she had done, he had fallen in love with someone else.

 

She returned to the forest that night, as did her guest. Her hands were clenched so tightly she could see blood dripping down, and yet she could not feel the pain. She only knew it was there, and how she should feel it.

 

“What do you desire?” It asked.

 

She wished she could feel her broken heart.

 

“Give me a kiss?”

 

Again she refused, and it left.

 

The next day she stayed in her room, and cried. And since she could again speak and feel, she desired to return to her people. She worked herself to the bone for them, and felt an ache she couldn’t fill with her actions.

 

She went to the forest, and the figure appeared again. She embraced him and cried, thanking him for her voice and her feelings, but she fell to her knees in exhaustion.

 

The voice came again.

 

“What do you desire?”

 

“I want to sleep.”

 

“Give me a kiss?”

 

She hesitated this time, but decided against. When she went home, the princess fell into a deep sleep, and her kingdom was glad. They had seen how much she’d given to them, and had worried for her.

 

When she woke, she went about her duties again, cheerful and energized.

 

The forest was clear and empty when she visited to thank the one granting her wishes, and she felt strangely empty. Nothing was there. So she returned to her kingdom, and to her people. She spoke and she slept, and she felt compassion for them.

 

And one day, she received a message. Her fiance desired a meal.

 

She frowned and she wondered, but decided there was nothing else to do. Lloyd had rejected her, and with this arrangement, she could help her people.

 

But she could not eat.

 

She returned to the forest that night, hopeful and desperate.

 

The figure had returned.

 

“What do you desire?”

 

“Hunger.”

 

“Give me a kiss?”

 

Colette hesitated and fumbled, pulling at her hair. Finally, she walked forward, arms wrapping around the figure. She pulled herself up, and kissed a hidden cheek. His arms wrapped gently around her waist, and she didn’t pull away. She leaned forward again, and kissed his other cheek. He sighed, and she kissed his forehead through his cloak. She relaxed, and rested her head against his warm chest, and for a moment, she wondered.

 

Had her affection for Lloyd been the same as this?

 

When had it changed?

 

Finally, she looked up, into soft turquoise eyes, and pressed her lips to his. They kissed, slow and tender, and when they pulled apart, she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

 

“Please don’t leave.”

 

But he was already gone. She chased after him, but found nothing. And she was sad, for reasons she could not explain. With everything she had lost returned, she had a feeling, the shadow would not meet her in the forest any longer. She felt lonely.

 

When she sat for the meal with the prince, she was certainly hungry. But the sacrifice she made, the man from the forest with turquoise eyes who had been there for her, was not one she had enjoyed making. The prince must have noticed her demeanor, and at the end of their meal, he leaned to the side.

 

“Princess, what do you desire?”

 

And the princess froze in her seat, looking at the final prince. His red hair was like blood, and his eyes were glimmering with knowledge. They were the same eyes as the one from the forest. She stared, she wondered, and finally, she stood and made her way to the prince.

 

“Give me a kiss?”

 

The prince’s smile grew larger, and he left his seat to embrace her, holding her tight and kissing her gently.

 

And the princess thought it was only fitting that she now had an answer to the first question he’d asked her. The only thing she could give was her heart, and Prince Zelos would give her anything for it.


End file.
